Volosozhar and Trankov's program to "Violin Muse" was highlighted by a triple twist and difficult Level 4 lifts, but Trankov crashed on the triple toe and Volosozhar went down on the throw triple loop. The European champions earned 132.79 points and accumalated 207.53 points overall.

"Maybe we were too well prepared," Trankov said. "We did not expect the fall on the throw, but overall it felt good to skate.

Spartacus, Bazarova and Larionov completed a triple toe, triple twist and throw triple loop, but they struggled with a lift and their double Axel-double Axel sequence. The European silver medalists scored 125.06 points and totaled 191.08 points.

"We made some mistakes, not just on the jumps, but more unexpectedly on a lift," Bazarova said. "But we fulfilled our goal to show our new program and to show more emotions. At the next competition, we'll have to focus more on the elements."

Denney and Coughlin produced a triple twist, throw triple loop and triple toe as well as strong lifts to score a season's best of 120.19 points. The U.S. champions scored 179.21 points, giving them two bronze medals in this year's Grand Prix.

"We were excited with our free skate," Coughlin said. "We made some improvements, both technically and in our components. We achieved some levels that we knew we were capable of, and it felt like we had good energy throughout the performance."